Could you kindly forward these questions to Lord Williams. I hope he may consider putting them to Joanna Natasegara, the film’s producer, and to James Sadri, Director of The Syria Campaign, during the Q&A this evening.

1) Why are the White Helmets not recognised by the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) [1]?

Decades before the White Helmets, aka “Syria Civil Defence”, was founded under the supervision of British military contractor James LeMesurier in Turkey in 2013 [2] there already existed a Syria Civil Defence, established in 1953 and which was a founder member of the ICDO in 1972. This original Syria Civil Defence works in both opposition and government held areas, unlike the White Helmets who operate solely in the former. [3]

Vanessa Beeley writes:

“Other ICDO partners include the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Secretarian of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations of Geneva (UNOG), Red Cross and the Red Crescent.

To our knowledge and according to the Head Quarters of the REAL Syria Civil Defence in Damascus, the White Helmets are NOT a member of the ICDO. The REAL Syria Civil Defence have received awards for their participation in the training of other member states in USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) and for their contributions to the Civil Defence community, prior to the NATO dirty war on Syria that began in earnest, in 2011.” [3]

The headquarters of the ICDO recently stated that “Actually the White Helmets are not even civil defence, concretely” [4].

2) What explanations can there be for the preponderance of highly disturbing images and videos of White Helmets such as those below? Other instances depict uniformed White Helmets carrying weapons [5], attending the murder of a young man [6], giving the victory sign over a pile of dead Syrian soldiers [7] and boasting about throwing the corpses of Syrian forces members “in the trash”. [8]

3) Why, in September 2016, did The Syria Campaign encourage 73 aid organizations operating in opposition-held territory, including the White Helmets, to suspend their cooperation with the UN aid program? Max Blumenthal writes:

As the Guardian noted in its coverage, “The decision to withdraw from the Whole of Syria programme, in which organisations share information to help the delivery of aid, means in practice the UN will lose sight of what is happening throughout the north of Syria and in opposition-held areas of the country, where the NGOs do most of their work.” [9]